Our man of the match poll praises new signings

While Jermain Defoe grabbed all of the headlines following Sunday’s win away to Reading, one of our new signings was making a quietly impressive first start in our garish third colours.

Moussa Dembele had already scored at Norwich after coming on as sub and he could have doubled his tally early in the second half at the weekend. Scoring isn’t necessarily his job however but his performance certainly made his mark on our readers.

In the man of the match poll that we ran yesterday, Jan Vertonghen came out on top with around 37% of the votes. Defoe finished second but Dembele was a comfortable third in the voting.

So Moussa made his mark on you and he was missed by Martin Jol at Fulham,

“We’ve had a few players over the last few years who are a class above,” said BMJ.

“Dembele is probably the best player on the ball I’ve ever seen, and we lost him.

“Dembele against ten men would have done something different,” he added – referring to Fulham’s match with West Brom.

Jol also compared Dembele to Rafael van der Vaart last year and while VDV may have gone, it seems as if we might have picked up an equally exciting player and maybe one who will spend more time on the pitch.

I really think that Moussa Dembele could be a great asset for us along with his compatriot Jan Vertonghen for years to come. The thing thats impressing the hell out of me at thie moment in time is the way these two have slotted in so effortlessly into our team with their class and can only get better as time goes on. I dont know if Dembele will be as influential to the team as Modric became but the signs are extremely encouraging at this early stage. Modric took time to adjust to the pace and power of the EPL and it took him about a year to adapt. Dembele is faster than Modric ever was and more powerfully built but at the sametime, blessed with a lot of skill and poise on the ball. The boy also has an eye for goal which Modric didnt have. He is not a replacement for Modric but what a partnership he could form with Sandro in the middle of the park. As for Vertonghen, what a player. It will become very apparent as soon as Kaboul returns to the fould that these two will be the mainstay of our central defensive core, solid, quick and intelligent. Frightening to the opposition.

I agree. I actually think it works as a pairing, as does Gallas/Dawson and Caulker. With Caulker being more of a Vertongen, classier on the ball than the tigerish Gallas/Dawson. We’ve a lot to be positive about as soon as we start to play the AVB way with authority.
I am presently surprised at how good Demeble was in the withheld role, believeing he was used more in the Gylfi role at Fulham. I still think should we be able to get him that we go for Moutinho in the Winter transfer window as that is sheer class.
Exciting times…

I’m gonna agree, Vertonghen was superb, didn’t waste a ball, was sound defensively, couldn’t ask for much more of a central defender. And the Moose is another great signing too, better defensively than Luka, knows where the goal is, and is already well acclimatised to the Premier League. JD seems to be his old self again, good on him ! I’m not an Adebayor fan, I think we should have let him go when he put on his parts over the contact stuff, and JD is proving very nicely that his Ade is best on the bench.

It’s great when you can buy a player like Dembele who is already accustomed to the Premier League, can slot straight in. Just baffling why we waited till the end of the transfer window to trigger his release clause!

Vertonghen is a class act. At 25, captain of Ajax I didn’t expect anything else. A leader.

@DoliSpur.Agree mate.Never really saw that much of Dembele in a central midfield position at Fulham, but from what I’ve seen on youtube and on the weekend leaves me extremely excited about our new signing. Would still like to see if he can ‘thread a ball through the eye of a needle’ and make that killer pass but even if he can’t yet, he has already improved the team tenfold.

In truth, I never really believed that there was that much wrong with the team despite the indifferent start to the season. I always knew that once we got a more creative player in the engine room, that we would soon see results and performances pick up. At the moment £15mill looks a real bargain, considering the ridiculous prices being bandied about for players with half the ability of Dembele (Henderson, and to a lesser degree, Joe Allen spring to mind).

Completely agree that if we really want to push on this season that we should look to sign another creative midfielder, in the mould of Moutinho/Benega. this would give us greater options, in what is already shaping up to be a very good squad.

On another note, it was nice to see AVB take of Bale after a sub-standard performance. We all know Bale is a big player for the club, but no-one, despite what Redknapp had us believe, should be immune to being substituted if their performance isn’t up to scratch.
It is also nice to see AVB relying on Huddlestone a bit more to, often bringing him on to maintain possession for the team.
Obviously the big man is impressing in training, which is great because he is a class act.

Another highlight for me was the late introduction of Andro Townsend, who in my opinion, given the opportunities could make a real impact for Spurs this season. Everytime I see the lad, he impresses me with his directness, ability and his eagerness to make things happen. He seems to ooze confidence and playing with quality players around him, as opposed to farming him out on loan to a lesser team, should see him flourish this season. He has two good feet, no shortage of tricks and pace to burn, making him an extremely exciting prospect. He can also count himself a little unlucky not to already have an assist to his name, as his run and cross to Defoe on the weekend was a thing of beauty. BRING ON LAZIO!!!

Dembele has been my dream signing for ages, I was so buzzed when we got him. He’s got such sticky feet, and provides a real sense of dynamism in the opposition half. However, not too sure if I’m as convinced about his role as a goal scorer as some of you. He scored two for Fulham last year and five the year before that. Modric actually scored more over the last two years. I don’t think that will be his role in the side, especially with Defoe and Ade up top, and Bale, Sig and Dempsey pitching in from midfield. Wont complain if he adds that to his game though!